


the road less travelled

by Echo (Lyrecho)



Series: tomonari final remix [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, KH2 AU, Namine-centric, Oneshot, Originally Part Of My NaNo2k16 Piece, Reupload & Rework Of An Old Multichap, Tomonari Final Remix, What If Sora & Roxas Never Merge Back Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-11-02 07:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20673236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrecho/pseuds/Echo
Summary: Dragged to an unexpected fork in the road, Namine steps forward into her own diverging path.|Tumblr||Twitter|





	the road less travelled

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't a new fic, not really. To some of you it may even be familiar, and there's a reason for that.
> 
> In 2016, during the month of November, I sat down and wrote 51K words. Those words belonged to 'tomonari,' the multichapter that was the origin of this fic. This oneshot was, specifically, a good chunk of the first two chapters of that fic.
> 
> I ended up hitting a wall with tomonari and staying stuck there for near on three years now. As I've recently gotten back into KH, I decided to take the plunge, and finally do what I've been thinking of doing for well over a year now: coming back to tomonari, and reworking it into something I'd actually be proud of. Something I'd finish.
> 
> To help with that, instead of working with a multichap again, I'm instead going to be splitting my attention into writing episodic chunks of the greater verse. The first 60k is already roughly written - I'm not starting from scratch, after all, just breathing new life into an old dream. So I hope to have the new 'rebuilds' of the rest of the already written tomonari up soon, before actually heading into uncharted territory.
> 
> Thanks <3
> 
> (Also: reminder, but I started writing this back in 2016. Back then, we didn't have a lot of the lore we do now - moving forward with the rewrite, I'll be trying my best to adjust for the new stuff as much as possible, but where something doesn't fit, I'll simply be moving on. This is, after all, an alternative canon.)

> Once upon a time, there was a witch.
> 
> Now, unlike the title ‘witch’ might lead you to believe, the witch in question was not a bad person, or even an inherently dark person. Quite the opposite, in fact.
> 
> The witch was just sad - sad…and lonely.
> 
> Her creation had been an accident, she knew. She shouldn't exist. She was an aberration, an abnormality, a shadow of a person. In the ways that really mattered, she wasn't _ real _.
> 
> But this witch still felt as if she was; even without a heart to guide her she had come from something much purer than those that surrounded her - the others like her, the ones that also shouldn't exist - and from that, she felt, and longed for, something that she could never have.
> 
> It was somewhat like a fairytale, really.
> 
> _ 'The hero smiled at the lonely witch even as she held back tears, and extended a hand out to hers, linking their pinkies. _
> 
> _ "It's a promise," he said.’ _
> 
> The thing about fairytales, though, is that the witch never gets a happy ending.

* * *

White.

White walls, white ceiling, white furnishing. If it weren't for the way the neutrality of it contrasted with and brightened the colours of the sketches she had plastered all over the rooms given to her in the old Twilight Town mansion, Namine would quite easily be able to say she was fully sick of seeing that colour. She wasn't sure if Riku had actually thought she'd _ liked _the colour and somehow taken the time to decorate accordingly, or if this was DiZ's passive aggressive way of showing just how much he disliked her continued existence and presence by his side, but whichever it was, the monotony of it, the way it brought to mind horrible, cold memories of Castle Oblivion and all the mistakes she had made there - well, it kept her on course for her target, already delayed too many times over; exactly what the two of them wanted.

And well, she wanted it too - if not for DiZ's revenge or Riku's promises, then her own desire for redemption. Whatever the reason, no matter how misguided she had been a year earlier, there was no excusing the fact that what she had done was _ wrong _.

Which was why she was doing what she was doing now at all, sneaking behind DiZ's back to integrate herself into the virtual Twilight Town he'd simulated in order to talk to Roxas. In Castle Oblivion, Sora had taught her something, and she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice in a row. Roxas needed to return to Sora, yes, and preferably as soon as possible - but to use force and trickery to do so was wrong, and after a year spent swimming through Sora's memories, she _ knew _ that he would never approve of what DiZ was planning - even _ Riku _ had reservations about it, ever since he'd brought Roxas to them, and he had initially been the most enthusiastic of the three of them, focused solely on getting Sora back.

Roxas _ deserved _ an explanation, and Namine was _ going _ to give it to him.

(- _ 'namine, would you please watch over roxas once i'm gone?' - _)

If she didn't -

(- _ 'all right.' _ -)

\- somehow, she didn't think she'd be able to live with herself.

* * *

Namine didn't fight Riku as he tugged her from the simulated Twilight Town. His grip was tight, but not painful - if it had been DiZ, she was sure he would have held her arm tight enough to bruise.

"What were you thinking, Namine?" Riku asked, and it still sent shudders down her spine to hear the voice that haunted - _ poisoned _ \- Sora's memories come out of that shadowed hood. "If you taint the simulation-"

"DiZ will be mad?" She broke in. "I have to at least explain some of this to Roxas. He's so confused right now, but if we make him understand that he needs to return to Sora to be whole-"

"Do you really think that the Nobody would listen to you, foolish girl?"

Namine stilled as DiZ's voice echoed into the room, but managed not to show her wince at his presence. Riku sighed, and turning to face him, let go of Namine's arm.

"We all want to be whole," she stated, voice firm, meeting DiZ's narrowed eye with her own gaze defiantly. "The whole purpose of the Organization is to gather the member's hearts."

DiZ let out a short, barking laugh. "Oh, I'm sure they want to gather hearts," he said. "But Sora is not a heart for Roxas to claim, but an existence for him to return to. Do you not think, Namine, that there is a difference between the two?"

Confused, Namine tried to puzzle her way through his words, but could not see the issue DiZ was trying to point out.

"Speak plainly, old man," Riku growled, and if there was one thing that voice was good for, it was threats. "What do you mean?"

"Nobodies want to be people, according to you," DiZ addressed Namine. "Why would Roxas acquiesce to vanishing into the heart of an already existing one?"

Before Namine could so much as open her mouth to protest - DiZ didn't _ understand _ ; he wasn't a Nobody, he _ couldn't _ know how it felt - he turned to Riku. "Keep an eye on her," he said. "Make sure she continues to work on Sora - and _ do not _ let her gain access into the simulation again."

With that, he left, and Namine was left scowling at the door.

"Namine," Riku said, and she jumped. For a moment, it was as if he was assessing her (she couldn't quite tell, with his hood covering the entirety of his face in shadows as deep as night), before he sighed. "You had good intentions," he admitted. "But with Roxas' memories the way they are now, do you really think your words would be of any help or consolation?" His face turned away from her, as if ashamed, and his shoulders slumped. "It's just... I think it's best if we let him enjoy what little time he has left in peace," he said. "He's just a kid. He doesn't need to worry about the inevitable, not when he still has a little bit of summer vacation left."

"But...his summer vacation _ is _ nearly over, right?" Namine said quietly. "Please, Riku - if you can't let me talk to him, at least give him a beach?"

There was a moment of silence, a pause as Riku seemed to consider her words, and Namine almost allowed herself to hope. But then, finally, he sighed once more. "I'm sorry, Namine," he said, and his voice was filled with genuine regret. "But I can't go against DiZ in this, no more than you can."

Namine looked down at her feet, not wanting to see the pity written in every line of Riku's body. The floor was white too, and the glistening spots of her tears showed easily on it, sparkling under the harsh, magnified lights overhead.

"Come on," Riku said, and placed a hand gently on her shoulder, tugging her towards the door. "We've both got work to do."

"Mm," she hummed in agreement, wiping her eyes and very deliberately not sniffing. "Take me back to Sora."

* * *

> Once upon a time, there was a princess, and she was full of light, the other side of the coin that was the witch.
> 
> She, too, was very lonely, and very sad - at first trapped under a curse, and then rescued by a hero, and sent to a paradise - where she would be safe, until he could come for her.
> 
> Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the curses this princess found herself caught under was the fault of the witch, her shadow, whom - lonely and sad as she was - wished for the hero to care for her with the same regard he had shown the princess.
> 
> In the end, it was not surprising that the witch felt this way. After all, she was as much a part of the hero as she was the princess, entwined and chained to both their lives equally, irrevocably. And it was from this connection with the hero that the witch's curse could take hold at all, in the first place.
> 
> But this is not a story about the witch and her curse.
> 
> No, this story, this tale, is about the princess - and the curse _ she _unwittingly inflicted on her hero.
> 
> Princesses, you see, are not witches. No matter how pure her heart and intentions, no matter how strong her wishes, how vivid her light or how deep her power, the princess was still a princess, untrained and untested, with no idea how to _ use _ that magic of hers the same way the witch could wield shadows - no idea how to harness that light.
> 
> So when the hero sacrificed himself to darkness for the sake of his princess, and she called out to the light to bring him back -
> 
> Well.
> 
> It makes sense, doesn't it? That untrained and unknowing as she was, she couldn't bring him back whole?

* * *

_ What's going on? _

Sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of Sora's capsule, her back to the door, Namine stilled, her red pencil held poised above the pristine white of the fresh page she had turned to only moments before. Listening, straining her ears as she turned slightly to look at the closed door behind her, Namine wondered just what had set alarm bells ringing off in her head.

There was, of course, every chance that she was simply being paranoid, but... 

Biting her lip, Namine stumbled to her feet, stamping them against the floor to get blood flowing through them again before the prickling beginnings of pins and needles became something more painful.

"Riku?" She called out, knowing that the boy was never too far from Sora when he was within the mansion's walls. She supposed she could simply go and poke her head out the door, if not wander down the hall to see if she could find anything wrong, but... but...

She found herself strangely reluctant to leave Sora's side, as if something terrible would happen the moment he was left alone.

The scent of darkness filled her lungs, choking and horribly familiar, and Namine prepared to scream as a hand extended from the darkness blossoming behind her - _ between _ her and Sora, _ no! _ \- slapping firmly across her mouth.

"Shh," Riku leant forward to whisper in her ear, and Namine relaxed - slightly.

"What's going on?" She whispered back. No matter her firm desire to kick out at Riku's ankles and scold him for just _ grabbing _ her like that, she had enough sense to know now was neither the time nor place. "No - what's gone _ wrong? _"

"The Organization," Riku breathed, and Namine could only hear him because of how close his lips were to her ear. "They've found us."

A flash of fear ran through Namine, and she found her eyes drawn to Sora, suspended peacefully in sleep, his hair ruffling gently with the air being circulated through his pod. "Are they here for Roxas, do you think?"

"Probably," Riku said, seeming to think she'd calmed down her racing heart enough not to make noise, because he set her down, and stepped back from her slightly. "If they get him back, we won't get a chance to get him a second time."

A hollow cold nestled itself somewhere inside Namine's chest. "He won't be able to return to Sora."

Riku gave a short, sharp nod. "DiZ is distracting the members here as well as he can - leading them on a bit of a goose chase. But, well - we're not actually sure how many of them _ are _ here, and not only can they move through the darkness, they have command of the lesser Nobodies." He looked at her, completely serious, for once not angling his face in a way that made it impossible to see his features. Namine had seen that face enough times in Sora's memories, felt the emotions of anger and fear connected to it so deeply that she couldn't help but flinch a bit at the fact that Ansem was so close to her - but those eyes, even gold, were purely Riku's, with concern shining through them; concern for her, and for his best friend.

"What do you need me to do?" She asked seriously. "We can't move Sora - he can't handle the darkness like you can, and we can't take him out of the pod, not yet."

"And it would take too long to move the pod itself manually." Riku sighed. "Namine, I'm sorry, - but we _ need _ Sora to wake up, now."

She stiffened. "But, he needs to be unconscious for Roxas to be reintegrated, and he-" she cut herself off, realising what the apology in Riku's eyes meant. "Oh," she said. "That's why you're here, isn't it? So you can tell me to get things ready for Roxas."

Briefly, Riku closed his eyes. "For what it's worth, I don't want this," he said quietly. "And if there was another way - _ any _ other way - I'd probably be quite happy to help you with it."

"But there isn't another way." Namine nodded. "And we're out of time." She met Riku's gaze once more, and smiled with a bitter determination. "Go get Roxas," she said firmly. "We'll be ready for you when you get back." And, with a sparking swirl of acrid darkness, Riku did exactly that.

"Okay," she said, turning to Sora. "I can do this. _ We _ can do this."

There were still some pieces of Sora's memories she hadn't full slotted back into their rightful place in the chain that made them all up, leery of doing so before she could link them with the pieces of memory that Roxas held, nestled and buried deep within him - but they could be dealt with later. For now, Sora had all the memories he needed to function and fight, and to recognise his friends, which was all that really mattered at a time like this -

Her eyes widened. His _ friends _.

Namine bit her lip. It was unlikely that the Organization had made it this far into the mansion, considering she had yet to hear anything out of the ordinary approaching her - just the usual buzz and hum of DiZ’s computer equipment - but Donald and Goofy were _ right there _, just down the hall, and if the Organization happened to chance upon them, if they breached this wing...

A voice in the back of her mind reminded her not to do anything stupid. Her priority was Sora, after all, since he was the one in the most precarious situation, and if she left him alone now, even for one single second, it would simply be testing fate - and she was smarter than that. She shot a glance to where Sora's pod was, and nodded to herself. Donald and Goofy would hold until they had Sora awake, and she had Riku to guard her back while she woke them up.

For now, she had a job to do. Ever since her creation her power had answered to her, easily, but it had always been simpler to focus amidst the onslaught of Sora's memories if she used her sketches as medium - particularly since Roxas' perspective and own memories had been added into the mix, as if she was trying to play two radio frequencies simultaneously, attention focused equally on each one. For that brief period in Castle Oblivion, where they had both been conscious, she'd been convinced her head would explode at times, the only respite that Roxas, at the time, had been blank enough as a person that the emotions that bled through him _ now _ hadn't been present. The sketches helped keep that all under control, compartmentalising everything into a neat and orderly fashion she could deal with at her own pace, but the fact of it was she didn't _ need _ them to tug on Sora's heart and memories.

_ Sora, _ she called out softly, working her way through all his thoughts that lurked just under the surface of his mind, his subconscious dreams and wonderings - her voice resonating its way down his chain of memories, right down to his heart, where his mind slumbered safe. _ Time to wake up _.

A faint murmur responded to her, a flickering life beginning to stir, and Namine retreated. She'd brought Sora closer to the surface, pulled him out of the deep dive into his heart he had been in for over a year, protecting even the most precious memories she hadn't been able to take from him, but that was all she would do for now. Too much, too fast, and she could damage him, like she had overwhelmed the replica, back in Castle Oblivion, tearing through his mind all at once with a command that had shredded all he was, all the chains of lies she had locked around his heart bursting into deadly shrapnel. This way, it would be gentler on both Sora and herself when his heart pulled Roxas back into him - while it would be slower, taking more time than even Namine herself would have liked, it would also be safer.

Well, relatively safer, considering the Organization was crawling through the building.

Impatiently, unsettled, Namine fidgeted beside the pod, glancing periodically at the door as she fought the urge to pace. Of an unusually calm demeanour and disposition she may have been, but even she had her limits, and one more thing Castle Oblivion had shown to her was that she didn't handle physical conflict very well. Riku had long since taught her how to throw a punch without breaking her hand in the process, but his fighting style and affinity for darkness were ultimately just too different from her base nature for her to learn very much from, and the members of the Organization were on an entirely different level of skill that she could never hope to approach.

Her mind, having been pretty much the only part of her body to gain any significant exercise over the past year, began to work in over time – running through best and worst case scenarios, because she couldn’t _ not _ think on it.

The best worst case scenario would be Demyx, probably. He’d never liked fighting, and from what she'd gathered from Roxas' memories, he’d always been friendly with pretty much everyone – if he was the one to walk through the doors, Namine should’ve been able to talk him down easily enough, or at least managed to stall until Riku did arrive on scene. And, after that… Axel? She wasn’t too sure on that one; he may have been one of the kinder Nobodies to don the coat, but when it came to him and Roxas and Sora, there were too many variables – she couldn’t be sure of his response. What if he thought the best way to keep Roxas safe was to get rid of Sora permanently?

It was as she was biting down on her lip, worrying at a piece of peeling skin with her teeth, that she heard it.

Footsteps.

She froze. Riku wouldn’t risk walking back through the mansion’s halls – not even with Roxas in his arms, mostly unprotected from the darkness, especially with his memories erased. So, whoever it was approaching her now, making no effort towards stealth – wasn’t Riku. Likely, wasn’t a friend.

Fear flashed through her as the door swung open; her trembling body froze and her blood ran cold as ice when she saw who stepped into the room.

"Little witch," Xemnas said, and his eyes – so similar in colour and shape to Riku’s – shined with a gleeful malice. "We’ve been looking for you." His gaze travelled behind her, to rest upon Sora, and the terror humming through her only intensified as Xemnas laughed.

* * *

Roxas had always made things difficult, in Riku’s experience – needlessly overcomplicating _ everything _ with his very existence.

Well. That wasn’t _ quite _ true – but right now, with gritted teeth and a headache beginning to knock at his skull, annoyed beyond anything he’d ever felt before, Roxas was just _ very aggravating _.

He was still unconscious, lying limp and still in Riku’s arms as he skulked his way through the halls of the mansion, trying to reconnoitre the situation as much as he could before he absolutely _ had _ to open up a dark pathway back to Namine – which he supposed was a good thing; if Roxas had been awake, Riku had no doubt that the Nobody’s first move would have been to attack him, even without recognizing just who he was – he’d had a stressful few days, after all.

However, the downside of his continued sleep, brought upon him by Namine's unsettling ability to meddle with Sora and the hearts of those connected to him - was that he couldn't help Riku in a fight with the Organization if it came down to that; was in fact, quite literally, dead weight.

So far, Riku had managed to place exactly one member of the Organization - the tenth member, Luxord - scattered around the lower floors of the mansion and tracking their way through DiZ's various false trails. However, that left the the members he was concerned about the most unaccounted for - namely, Axel, who while not being the strongest of the Organization, was definitely the most potentially terrifying - at least when it came to Roxas, and his appearances within the simulation throughout the past few days _ proved _ he was lurking around somewhere.

Taking in a deep breath, deciding that he'd waited long enough and that it was highly unlikely anyone was going to pass through the hall where he was standing, pressed into the shadows along the wall, Riku raised one hand, and felt the cool power of darkness well up within him, flooding over his fingers like a mirage of smoke as it whirled into a passage just large enough for him to pass through with his burden of Roxas.

He stepped swiftly into the pathway he'd opened up, making sure to tug on the darkness in order to pull the portal shut behind him. The paths, after all, weren't an instantaneous method of travel - rather, they opened into the darkness and shadows that ran alongside what DiZ called the Lanes Between - a way to travel through worlds easily, he'd said, if one was willing and able to risk their lives against the darkness. This meant, of course, that he could encounter anyone while in this shadowy nexus, so there was really no point in making it even more obvious where he was by leaving the 'door' wide open behind him.

Riku had just begun to walk, allowing his feet to take him in the direction his heart told him Namine was, knowing that with just a few more steps he'd be at the point where opening a path back to Twilight Town would end up with him right beside her, when he felt the atmosphere around him shiver, the acrid smell of the shadows in the Lanes thickening like smoke.

A real denizen of the darkness had entered this realm, then - not merely someone who had darkness in their heart and wielded it, like Riku did - but a creature born of the darkness, with no heart - no light at all - to balance it out.

A Nobody. And probably one of the Organization, unless any more humanoid ones were somehow lurking about - the paths didn't react like this for just the ordinary shells known as Nobodies; Riku knew this from experience.

"Well, hi," the smirk on Axel's face was more than just a quirk of his lips - it was a glint in his eyes; the cock of his head. "Fancy meeting you here."

The words themselves weren't precisely threatening, or even intimidating - out of context, they'd probably even seem friendly. But there was malice in the tone, a heated anger building up as the Nobody spoke, his eyes fixed on what Riku held clutched to his side with one arm - Roxas, still unconscious.

Wordlessly, Riku called Soul Eater to his hand, holding it out point first in Axel's direction but making no move to attack. The redhead was volatile, true, but if past encounters (let alone the past week) had proved anything, it was that he was reluctant to hurt Roxas, meaning he probably wouldn't go crazy so long as he was held up literally right against Riku. No point in risking antagonizing him to the point where he felt that even Roxas wasn't worth the bother.

"Axel," he said. "What do you want?"

Sighing, Axel shook his head. "Well, right now? I kind of want you to put Roxas down."

Riku barked out a short laugh. "So you can run off with him?" He adjusted his grip on his sword, shifting his weight so it spread out more evenly; solidifying his centre of gravity. "I don't think so. Sora needs Roxas to wake up, so don't think I'm just going to let you take him back to the Organization."

Axel, who had begun to sink into his own battle-ready position, arms out and fingers splayed as if ready to summon his chakrams, paused at this, straightening up into a vulnerable, unwary position that made Riku hesitate as Axel stared at him with wide eyes, seemingly torn between confused disbelief, and hysterical laughter.

"You think we're here for _ Roxas? _ " He laughed, waving a hand in the air. "Oh, boy. No. No, we're not here for _ him _ ," he jerked his chin at the blonde still held in Riku's arms. "He already left the Organization once, of his own volition, back when he _ had _ his memories. Roxas..." Axel faltered. "Roxas wouldn't want to stay, even if we took him back; even if the Superior accepted him back." He shrugged. "I want you to let Roxas go, so I can get him somewhere safe before the others realise he's still here, and come after him - with a vengeance."

"You're lying," Riku accused. "If you're not here for Roxas, then why?"

Even as he spoke the words, a deep foreboding began to creep upon him, like the bitter chill of winter's first cold snap. Axel must have read the dawning realisation in his eyes, because he nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," he admitted freely. "So why don't you hand Roxas over to me, and then run along to save Sora?"

* * *

Namine shuddered, instinctively stumbling a few steps back as Xemnas stepped closer, her body moving without conscious permission - her bone deep fear its own input. More disturbing, though, then the closeness of Xemnas' presence is the way he pays her no attention, gaze roving over Sora as if reading him down to his soul.

"He is stirring," Xemnas said, and Namine flinched as he turned to look at her. "Is that your doing, little witch?"

She trembled, and nodded, knowing that there was no point in lying to Xemnas. "He won't wake up," she said. "Not until Roxas is with him again." There was defiance in her words, hidden subtly beneath the terror plain in her tone, but she was sure Xemnas picked up on it.

"Hmm," The leader of the Organization hummed, tilting his head consideringly as he once more glanced at Sora. "Roxas," he said, and there was a thoughtful lilt to his voice. "Why do I get the feeling that you are lying to me, Namine?"

The sound of her name, spoken by that man with his voice, was awful. She'd come up with it herself, before the Organization had found her - and while it still might connect her to Kairi in its own way, the blatant lack of the sigil Xemnas so favoured in the Nobodies he claimed as his own and renamed in a twisted mockery of their original selves - it had marked her as outsider and _ different _ to the others in the Organization. It had been so clearly a spiteful, disrespectful move towards Xemnas that she refused to take the name he offered her - Akxiri - nor wore the dark cloak the Organization claimed as their signature. In fact, she'd started wearing white in pure defiance, not because she _ liked _ the damned colour.

Her name was a weapon in Xemnas' mouth; he spoke it like it was poison and the daggers hidden in each syllable found their target as she shrunk in on herself.

Xemnas' smile widened. "He won't wake on his own; not without Roxas," he said. "But Namine, _ you _ can wake him up, can you not?"

A whimper broke out of her throat as she hastily glanced away, knowing even as she turned her face from Xemnas' all-seeing gaze that she'd already given herself away.

"Don't worry so much, little witch," Xemnas laughed. "I have no intention of waking the little hero - not yet, anyway."

And, once he'd spoken those words, he stepped away from Namine, leaving the blonde girl confused and unable to do anything as he raised a hand, the weight in the air intensifying, growing to a point far beyond oppressive -

\- and the thick, durable glass Sora was sheltered in _ crumpled _.

Xemnas frowned, and made a sharp gesture with one hand once more, even as Namine gasped - breaking out of her stupor and running forward to _ stop _ him, somehow, _ she had to _ -

With a discordantly beautiful, musical sound - crystalline tinkling as the shards splintered and fell to the ground - the pod Sora had been in, been kept _ safe _ in, the shelter DiZ and Namine had worked to upkeep for over a year - broke apart, falling in pieces to the ground near instantaneously as Sora, inside, fell with them - landing among the broken shards with a force and abruptness that made Namine flinch and rush forward, even as Xemnas stepped up right beside her.

She reached for Sora, not even truly noticing the glass that crunched under her feet and stabbed up through the thin soles of her sandals as little more than background annoyance - jerking back hurriedly as Xemnas' arm brushed against hers; he too had reached out for Sora with both his arms, crouched down beside his still, limp form.

She was frozen, half collapsed against the ground in her scramble to get _ away _ from the man, being stabbed and prodded by shards of glass as Xemnas carefully turned Sora over, running one hand across his face to brush away fragments of glass – crystalline powder clinging to the cuffs of his sleeves as he wiped it from Sora’s hairline and eyelashes – before cradling his arms around Sora and lifting him up, glancing to Namine as he straightened.

There was a faint trail of blood making its way down Sora’s forehead, smudged from where Xemnas’ sleeves had trailed into it, and Namine felt the cold fear within her splinter, transforming into something more heated – she was still scared, of course; she was terrified, _ Xemnas was terrifying _ – but now, she was mad, too. The red trickling its way down Sora’s face eclipsed her vision until all she saw _ was _ red, and the only thing that kept her from leaping at Xemnas was that very terror he inspired in her, running soul deep and undeniable.

She gritted her teeth, hands fisting at her sides, and Xemnas smirked – as if he knew what she was thinking.

"Namine," he said, and shifted, as if to adjust Sora’s weight better as his head lolled to one side. "You’re coming with us."

All things considered, there was really only one action for Namine to take. Taking in a deep breath, she prayed Riku was in a place he could hear her – she’d even take DiZ, if the man would care enough to show up; after all, he _ had _ sent her to watch over Sora – and screamed.

* * *

Riku had _ just _ phased back into the reality that made up Twilight Town, shifting down from the Path he’d opened up earlier, not yet at Namine but desperate to get away from Axel (who was _ right _ behind him, because the Nobody did not _ know when to give up _), still clutching Roxas to his chest, when he heard it.

Namine. She was screaming.

Panic flooded through Riku for a moment – Axel was right, had been telling the truth, he needed to _ run _ – and his first instinct was to let Roxas fall to the floor and bolt for the chamber that both Namine and Sora had been hidden away in, but that initial burst of panic was brief, and he quickly kicked his brain into gear.

He was outnumbered – well. He didn’t know just how badly he was outnumbered, and there was every chance that Axel, while not aiding him, wouldn’t stand in his way, either, considering how he was simply standing by Riku’s side with a smirk that said he knew he was about to get exactly what he wanted – but he _ was _ outnumbered, was the thing, and very, _ very _badly. With Sora on the line, he couldn’t afford to mess it up because his stupid, hot-head hadn’t learned anything in the past year.

So, he took a deep breath, and made a decision that – while sending every nerve he had into a twitching, screaming frenzy – was realistically the best one he could have made. "Here," he said, and handed Roxas to Axel, who tried but failed to express surprise. "Get him out of here, keep him safe, whatever." He glared at the Organization member. "I _ will _ be coming back for him."

Axel laughed, looking a bit too smug for Riku to feel comforted. "Oh, I’m sure you will," he said, grinning. "I look forward to it." Around their feet, darkness pooled, and Axel’s last words came through warped, echoing. "I’ll see you around, _ kid _."

That… could have been very stupid. Probably _ was _ very stupid.

… Oh well. What’s done is done, and there was nothing Riku could do to stop it now – real life had no take backs, and he wasn’t going to kid himself; Axel was already _ long _ gone. More importantly, Namine's screams - which he had noted in the back of his mind didn't sound like screams of pain or fear; more _ here I am, come help me out _ (which would draw Riku and DiZ to her, sure, but also any Organization members that happened to be in hearing distance; Namine wouldn't risk that - risk Sora - unless she was really in trouble) - had started to die off, as if she'd given up wailing for breathing. Like she needed to be able to run unhindered.

It wasn't a nice thought, and Riku didn't want to risk traversing a Path of Darkness to reach her - whoever was causing her to scream, likely a Nobody, would definitely sense it, and then he would lose absolutely any semblance of surprise when he made his attack - so instead he sprinted through the halls in the direction of Sora's chamber, barely even noticing the lesser Nobodies he slashed through as he ran past them.

_ From above! _

His mind screamed danger at him, and he jerked back just in time to miss being riddled with a volley of bullets shaped like darts, knives - glowing red and vicious, looking intrinsically menacing enough to send a skitter of unease even down Riku's spine.

"Well, I'll be!" A voice called out from above - the direction the bullets had come from. Glancing quickly that way, turning so his back was no longer to the shooter, Riku took in a wide grin and one burning yellow eye. "I heard you were good, but I honestly didn't expect you to be able to dodge _ my _ bullets." The man shrugged, and Riku tensed further as he raised his arm - cocking his gun once more in Riku's direction.

"Don't worry about it!" The shooter reassured, squinting with his one good eye, as if trying to pinpoint Riku's exact position. "I'll make sure not to underestimate you again."

* * *

When Riku didn't come, Namine told herself not to worry too much. Panic was the enemy, fear was the enemy, and Xemnas hadn't even made a move to stop her from screaming.

He was just... standing there. Holding Sora, and standing there, a wicked grin on his face as he watched her scream her lungs out. Eventually, she trailed off - his silence, his stillness, were disconcerting.

"Are you done?" Xemnas asked once she fell silent. "It should be clear to you, Namine - no-one is coming for you." His eyes narrowed. "It would be in your best interests to stop this foolish defiance now, and come along willingly."

"Willingly?" Namine chanced the risk of earning Xemnas' ire (he'd always _ hated _ being questioned) in order to - maybe - gain some knowledge.

"Only you can awaken Sora," Xemnas said, and with a gesture, summoned up a Dark Path. "Either you will come with me willingly now, or I will _ drag _ you to The World That Never Was."

Namine swallowed. There was a vicious sort of glee in Xemnas' voice, faint though it was, like he was waiting for her to choose option two. She hesitated, trying to look as if she was considering her options when all she was really doing was stalling for time in the hopes that either Riku or DiZ would show up before Xemnas grew impatient with her inaction and followed through on his threat - when she felt it.

Namine's special power, something no other Nobody had, something that made her different, an outlier - was her connection to Sora, and through him, those who's bonds were entrenched deeply into his heart. And, regardless of the fact that they had never met face to face, you didn't get much more deeply connected than being different facets of the same being. Through Sora, the connection she felt to Roxas was one neither she nor Sora shared with any other - not Kairi, not Riku, or any of the friends Sora had made since landing in Traverse Town, in that time that felt so long ago.

And that connection to Roxas, the thrum of him in the background of her mind for days, weeks, now, in that one, slumped over position by DiZ's equipment - it was moving, shifting - phasing through the Darkness. She would have said that was good, but...

It wasn't coming towards her. Was, in fact, moving _ away _ from her. Riku would have rushed to her as soon as he managed to collect Roxas. Out of the people gathered here in the mansion - however many there were - Namine could say with certainty that none of the three that could be trusted with Roxas, for Sora's sake, would chance moving the two so far from on another, especially while they were under attack - only a member of the Organization would flee the mansion with him in their arms.

It was a chilling realisation, ice splintering through her like the glass shattered around her feet. _ The Organization has Roxas _.

Xemnas showed no reaction to what she had felt - of course not, intimately connected to the Darkness or no, not even a Nobody as powerful as he was could feel a path open from so far away, the only reason Namine had sensed it being her unique connection to Sora. However, he had definitely seen the despair briefly flicker through her eyes, because a small smirk played around his lips.

"Come, Namine," he commanded. "Whether you come along willingly or not, I _ will _ be taking Sora." His tone took on a sort of mocking pity. "And you would follow him always, wouldn't you? Even at the cost of your own existence."

Namine gritted her teeth, but did not rise to the bait.

Riku was - indisposed, probably, if one of the Organization had gained Roxas (he wasn't dead, couldn't be dead, Riku was too strong for that, she told herself desperately); DiZ, likely had been too far away to even hear her screams - the truth was a hard, bitter pill to swallow down, but Namine faced reality, and did exactly that.

She was on her own. No-one was going to barge through those doors, beat down Xemnas and pull Sora (still sleeping, with a peaceful expression on his face - no idea of the horrors that were to come) safely from his arms.

_ She _ was alone, but Sora didn't have to be - _ wouldn't _ be; so long as she existed she would stand by his side.

So she stepped forward, staring down at her feet as Xemnas placed one hand on her shoulder, and told herself she was making the right decision.

There was, after all, still something she could do, even as powerless as she was - even as small and unlikely to help as the action itself was.

She gathered all the appropriate memories and emotions within her, and then - reached out along the spider-web threads that made up her connections to Sora's most important, precious people - sparked a connection between that bundle of memories and the mind of the one she had reached out for - linked back together a chain that she should have never broken in the first place, with a few new links forged in, for good measure.

Xemnas made a displeased sound, and paused as they stepped into the cold, almost liquid fog that curled around the portal, and Namine froze - had he somehow figured out what she'd done?

Thankfully, Xemnas saw nothing wrong with her squeaking and stilling the way she had, seemingly taking her terror around him for a given. He reached up to grasp around Sora's neck, and for one brief, panicked (and confused) moment, Namine thought he was going to snap his neck.

Instead, Xemnas' hand came away from Sora's _ hood _, cupped around -

Namine's mind stopped. Rebooted. Jiminy had been in Sora's hood this _ whole time? _ She shook herself. It didn't matter. What mattered was -

\- A frown playing across his face, Xemnas closed his hand, and Namine couldn't help it - she gasped in horror. Xemnas paid her no attention, flinging the crushed body of the cricket away, where it landed among the largest collection of shards on the floor, where the base of the pod still stood mostly intact.

Before Namine had so much as a chance to process what had just happened, or even _ react _, Xemnas’ grip re-established itself on her shoulder, even tighter than before -

\- and then she was flying; floating, falling, as Xemnas flung her into the Darkness.


End file.
